you expected to
look; but now, a shout of exultation breaks from your lips; and well it
may. A new Pacific Ocean seems to expand before you, as if by some
sudden enchantment. It is an ocean of constant verdure and inexhaustible
fertility, spreading far, far below you, as far as you can see, on every
side but that from which, high on the mountain top, you look down upon
the view. The seeming ocean is the first table land, whose soft, green
undulations fill the horizon, though, when the sky is clear, the snowy
mountains may be seen far away, dazzling the heavens and the earth with
their brightness. Spring and autumn here join hands, consecrating the
double seedtime and the double harvest of the year. Yonder is a field of
ripened grain. And there is the Indian laborer, near his cabin of thatch
and clay, guiding the rude ploughshare through the fertile soil.

Descend the mountain, and, crossing that sea of beauty, ascend the
mountains beyond. The scenes, just now all soft and pleasing, give way
to others which unite the lovely and the severe. Look upward. There
rises a mountain, so gently curving and so green, so alluring with its
light and shade, that it seems the very emblem of graceful majesty,
looking as if it must know its wondrous beauty, and as calm as if no
wind strong enough to make a violet tremble could ever breathe upon its
face; yet near, in vivid contrast, stands a craggy peak, towering up,
up, toward the deep blue sky, so broken and so black that it seems like
the very Giant Despair of mountains, frowning with unearthly fierceness
upon his gentle neighbor, who returns his grim looks with meek and
placid trust. Where whirlwinds and tempests await the signal for howling
desolation, stands the beautiful colossal image of sublime serenity.

Again, steep, rocky roads lead over rugged cliffs. Your horses climb
panting, and descend, picking their steps, upon the other side. Stop
awhile on this green space, a valley between two high ridges. Countless
flowers spread fragrance and beauty around. They are not those alone of
the strictly tropical level, but, owing to the height above the sea, the
floral wealth of the temperate zone is embosomed in the torrid region
itself, and adds the charm of an almost magical diversity to the
intrinsic splendors of the scene. See small objects flitting about from
flower to flower. They are the smallest and most delicate of
hummingbirds, nowhere found but in America. Watch their color